Stories from the Dark
by theDeadTree
Summary: A collection of one-shots regarding the narrative of Twilight Princess.
1. Midna: Before the End

**Note/Disclaimer: **These are just one-shots of scenes, in different perspectives, and in no particular order. Because I really like Twilight Princess and I felt like writing a bunch of one-shots about it. Because of reasons.

There should probably be some spoiler warning here. I mean, I just assume everyone knows the plot of Twilight Princess, but in case you don't, I feel I have to warn you - there be spoilers ahead. Kind of big ones.

I don't own Legend of Zelda.

* * *

><p><span>Midna<span>

Zant took it. He took everything. He took it and he destroyed it, soiled it with his foul presence. He burned it all to the ground out of the absurd claim that everything was his to do with as he pleased, bent on some ridiculous mission of conquest to the Light World. Who _cared_ about the Light World? Why did he care about it? Why did he want it so badly? Badly enough to warp innocent people into an army of Shadow Beasts and besiege it? I have to go after him. I have to stop him. I have to save the Twilight. I have to break this godforsaken curse he's put on me because god_damn_ being so short is really irritating me.

How, though? How can I do anything, like this?

My power is gone.

My throne is gone.

My people are gone.

Even my true self – my _real_ form, not this disgusting, ugly, irksome imp form – is gone.

The power I wielded as leader of the Twili, as the princess of the Twilight Realm, is gone, and I'm not sure if it's ever coming back.

It _has_ to come back.

He needs to pay for what he's done to me.

I fell to my hands and knees – my tiny, stubby, pathetic, _useless_ little limbs that can barely even support me properly – having lost all hope of ever defeating Zant and returning the Twilight Realm to normal. I can't stay here, but I can hardly go after him and fight, either. If I didn't have the power to stop him before, there is no possible way I have it now, like this.

I should have seen this.

I should have seen the growing greed and lust for power burning in his eyes.

I should have stopped him.

I _should_ have stopped him, before he had the chance to do this. To do any of this.

Now my kingdom is in disarray and there is nothing I can do about it.

I can't stop him.

I can't fight him.

I can't do _anything._

I've been banished, my throne has been usurped and I've been cast aside like I'm nothing at all, just as the ancestors of my people had been so long ago. I had thought the Twili had evolved past that. I had thought my race was a peaceful one; that we were beyond such petty squabbles over power. I had thought, perhaps foolishly, that the mistake would not be repeated.

_You are worthless. All you have ever achieved is a sense of complacency as you rot away in this cage._

Maybe he's right. Maybe I am worthless.

My lip curled at the thought. Oh, sure. And maybe the Twili are actually better off living in eternal suffering having been transformed into monsters, and _maybe_ I'll somehow find true happiness and a new purpose in life as an imp. Maybe this is the best thing that has ever happened to me – a blessing in disguise.

Do you realise how ridiculous you sound?

Hopelessness is not what built our society from the few remnants of shadow magic users to a functioning, flourishing society under the gentle half-light of the Twilight Realm. Despair is not what brought the Twili as a race back from the brink of oblivion. We're supposed to resilient. _I'm_ supposed to be resilient. To anything, to any possible hardship. I'm supposed to know what to do. I'm supposed to be prepared.

I don't know what to do.

I don't know how to save my people, my home, from the oblivion that awaits it.

My ancestors have abandoned me.

The goddesses have abandoned me, just as they abandoned us as a race to the Twilight.

I can find a way out of it. I know I can. That's part of who I am, who I'm supposed to be. I have to.

This is my home. I have to defend it, to protect it.

Look at it now. Destroyed. Nothing but ruins, all because of Zant's childish lust for power.

I'll kill him.

I'll _kill_ him.

With _what,_ Midna? He took your power. You have nothing left.

No. I _do_ have something left. I have what he could never take from me.

I glanced down at my hand and summoned an ancient heirloom of my people that had been passed down through my family since the inception of the Twili as a race. It was a strange, intricately carved stone headpiece, almost like a helmet.

I watched the Fused Shadow loom ominously before me, like it was calling for me to take it and use its power.

A wild, near maniacal grin spread across my face. I _can_ take it. I _will_ take it.

I was wrong to despair. With the power of the Fused Shadows, I can do anything. I can defeat Zant. No – I can _destroy_ him. I _will_ destroy him, and when I have obliterated him, I will scatter his remaining dust across the earth. He is a fool and he was power hungry and a usurper and he will die. He will _die._ If he thinks he can get away with this, with the things he's done to me, to the Twili, to the Twilight Realm, he is sorely mistaken. He'll pay. I will _make_ him pay. I will find him and I will make him suffer for what he has done. He will _beg_ me for mercy.

Zant has gone to the Light World to overthrow it. It's only fair I follow.

And by the time I am done with his miserable existence, he will wish he had never been brought into the world at all. He will beg for death before the end.


	2. Zelda: Failure

Zelda

I promised my father that I would always do whatever was in my power to protect and defend Hyrule and its people as he lay on his deathbed. After a life of grief and turmoil, after he lost my mother and yet forced himself to go on, he couldn't any longer. He simply couldn't bring himself to continue. Most people believe that he worked himself to death, eternally trying to please everyone and never quite managing to succeed.

Whether that was the case or not, he died with a smile on his face, and a look of peace, knowing that his beloved daughter would always uphold her promise.

I never thought twice about it. It seemed like such an obvious promise to make. I would never willingly bring suffering upon the people of Hyrule. It seemed like common sense to me at the time. It all seemed so simple. I would be crowned queen almost immediately, and I would be the ruler my father would have wanted me to be. I would be kind and benevolent, an illustrious and gracious Queen of Hyrule, much beloved by her subjects.

It was all going to be so perfect.

He walked towards me, perfectly calm, perfectly silent, barely reacting at all to the blood and carnage that raged around him as his horde of demons attacked the guards who had sworn to protect me and my family. Without a word, he halted before me and the creatures surrounded him, displaying to me that they had captured my men and they at least, were completely at his mercy.

I didn't move. I remained impassive. I must be reason. I must be logic. I can't allow my emotions to get the better of me. I can't be impulsive.

It seemed like an eternity, in which we all simply stood there, my army against his, before he finally took the liberty to speak.

"It is time for you to choose. Surrender, or die."

His words were like ice. I gripped my rapier tightly, hearing my father's words echo in my head, and my promise to him as he died to do everything within my power to protect and watch over all of the people of Hyrule.

I will fulfil my promise to my father.

I will protect Hyrule, at any cost. I will not subject anyone to further suffering. In that, I won't be swayed. I won't be reasoned with. I am queen of this land in every way save officially, legally. I would even be queen in that respect as well, had my coronation gone uninterrupted. My father was a good man. He had the people's respect, their love. I will live up to him. I will be a good ruler. I will live up to that. In that, I am determined.

"Oh yes, a question for _all_ the people and lands of Hyrule," the man, the figure, the strange, elusive person who had invaded my country on this day, the most important day of my life, murmured through his thick, intricate helmet, quiet, still and deadly. "Life? Or _death?"_

I glanced edgily around the huge chamber that was the throne room of Hyrule Castle, at the soldiers who struggled in the hands of the huge, ghastly monsters that this man, this strange, utterly calm man who hid his face behind an all-concealing mask, commanded. Despite their devilish appearance, I can't help but sense some strange feeling of sadness from them. Briefly, I allowed myself to wonder.

Who was this man? What there the creatures he commanded as an army and yet treated and belittled them as though they were nothing more than mere dogs? Where did they come from? What was their purpose here? How did I receive no warning of this impending invasion? I should have known. I should have fortified Hyrule's defences, drawn my people close, and kept them safe from harm.

In that moment, I knew.

I failed.

Despite everything, all my efforts, everything I did that was for the benefit of the people, I failed. I failed in my duty to this land, as the guardian of the power of the goddesses – at everything. I had failed to uphold my promise to my father, I had failed as a queen. I was a failure in every sense of the word, nothing more.

Surrender or die.

That is my choice now.

There was a loud, sickening _snap_ as the spine of one of the guard, one of the men who had sworn his life to protect me and my family, snapped as the grip of the fiend that held him tightened beyond the point of allowing him to live. Another guard gasped loudly, desperately, as his captor began to repeat the process with him.

I didn't react to the death – not visibly. I need to be strong. I need to be a good leader.

I'm running out of time.

Slowly, I closed my eyes and exhaled quietly. I must remain resolute in my decision.

I must protect Hyrule and its people. I have to, out of duty, out of responsibility, because I promised my father I would. I promised him as he lay dying that I would put their lives before my own, at all times. That I was be noble and selfless. That I would be benevolent and wise. That I would be perfect.

Perfection is an impossibility. It's a nice thought, but an impossibility.

I realise that now.

It provides precious little comfort.

Either everyone dies right here and now, horribly, each and every living soul hunted down until there is no one left, or they are subject to the rule of this madman.

No…he's not a madman.

Mad, perhaps.

But not a man.

He's not a man at all.

He's empty. He's flat and emotionless, as though he is barely even there at all. A shadow. A ghost. A phantom, an imprint of a greater evil that is yet to come.

For the first time, I'm afraid. I'm afraid of making the wrong decision. I'm afraid because I can't tell which is the wrong decision and which is the right one. Maybe there is no right decision. Either way, no matter what I choose, everyone will suffer.

I have to be wise. I have to know. I have to do the right thing, and I have be steadfast in my decision. I have to protect Hyrule, no matter the cost to myself. I have to protect the innocent, guard the weak, stand firm for the land I'm supposed to rule over. The land my father entrusted to me.

The rapier fell from my slackened grip and clattered to the ground, the sound of the impact echoing throughout the throne room.

I didn't say the words. He didn't need to hear them.

I surrendered.

And Hyrule burned.


	3. Ilia: Remember, part II

Ilia

Link.

_Link._

Link, my friend, the serial horse neglecter. How could I forget him? We've been friends since we were kids. We did everything together. He was always so casual and sweet even when I was mad at him and he'd help out at the ranch and spent a great deal of our childhood unsure of himself because he was clearly Hylian when no one else in the entire village was.

My friend.

My best friend since childhood.

I know him.

How could I _not_ know him?

How could I have forgotten him so easily?

I beamed in his direction, in an effort to reassure him that I knew him, that I remembered him and that everything was going to be okay now. The smile faded when I saw him – actually _saw_ him – for the first time since we were attacked at the spring.

He stood still and silent in a corner, gazing mindlessly off into space, just as he would've done if we were at the ranch or wherever we decided to go. I hadn't thought there was anything peculiar about him yesterday. But now I know. Now I remember what he was like before. And now, I can see just how much he's changed in such a short space of time.

No longer did he have that easy-going, carefree air about him. No longer was he just that boy who helped out at the ranch and daydreamed about heroics and adventure. Maybe it was the outfit, the heavy leather boots and the chainmail he wore underneath that old, worn, faded green tunic that looked like it had seen far better days. Maybe it was the darkened, grave expression he wore, as though he was haunted by memories of something he'd rather forget completely. Maybe it was the scars that I'm sure he didn't have back in Ordon, remnants of injuries that he sustained getting here, to this point. Or perhaps it was the way his hair was a mess and he looked so pale and gaunt, like he hadn't slept properly in who knows how long. Maybe it was the intricate longsword and shield he wore over his back. He just looked…older. Worn. Tired. Like a soldier who had seen far too much blood and death and carnage.

He's _sixteen._ He was a novice swordsman at best, back in Ordon. How can he have become such a battle hardened warrior so quickly? What on earth happened to him to turn him into the young man standing before me? He's not Link. Not the Link I knew.

The person I knew was different. He was kind and sweet and full of compassion and played with the kids and looked out for everyone without ever having to be violent. He was happy-go-lucky and talkative and got up to all kinds of antics and somehow always managed to get away with everything because he had this gorgeous, infectious smile that immediately makes you forget why you were ever mad at him. He herded goats for a living and had his head in the clouds and everybody liked him. Everybody loved him. He was just so likable, always happy, always smiling, always willing, and somehow always full of sunshine and cheer.

Now, he looks grave, like there's a dark cloud hanging over him all the time. He seems barely aware of the world around him, too absorbed in his thoughts, his eyes glazed over slightly as his mind wandered.

Where?

Where does your mind go, Link?

What are you thinking about?

He's so serious. He's so grave. He looks like the world is dying around him and there's nothing he can do to stop it. He never used to be like this. This isn't him. This isn't how he's supposed to be. He isn't smiling. I look at him now, at the person he's become in such a short time, after being through whatever horrors he's been forced to face, whatever fears he'd had to confront, and I'm terrified I'm never going to see him smile again.

"…Link?"

He immediately reacted to the sound of his name, his head snapping around to face me, his hand flying up to grip his sword as though he expected monsters to converge on him any moment, despite being inside, in one of the safest places in Hyrule. It made me sad to see him react that way.

Who are you anymore, Link?

Smile.

Please, for the love of the goddesses, smile at me, even if it's just for a moment. Show me you're still the same person. Assure me that we're still friends.

I looked at him, waiting, pleading, and taking in everything about him while I could. While he was still here. I'm scared that once he leaves, I won't see him again for some time. I'm scared he's going to leave and he's going to die, pointlessly, his body left broken out in the middle of a field somewhere. I'm _terrified_ that's what is going to end up happening to him. I worried for him. I'm worried about what he's going to do to himself.

Don't go, Link.

Please don't go.

I need you.

We all need you.

I need you to be here. I need you to be safe.

Don't go and risk your life so recklessly. Don't throw yourself away, leaping headfirst into danger because you can't stand the thought of anyone aside from yourself ever getting hurt. Let someone take the pain, for once. Link, please.

Don't you see? Don't you understand?

You can't keep going like this.

You're going to kill yourself.


	4. Midna: See You Later

Midna

"Well...I guess this is farewell, huh?" I said in what I intended to be a light tone. "Light and shadow can't mix, as we all know. But...never forget that there is another world bound to this one."

Zelda, the princess who was unofficially a queen, nodded in agreement.

"Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin...one cannot exist without the other," she mused, apparently deep in thought. "I know now the reason the goddesses left the Mirror of Twilight in this world. They left it because it was their design that we should meet. Yes, that is what I believe."

Perhaps that was true. I wasn't inclined to agree, but I wasn't about to argue with her either. Instead, I smiled gently at her.

"Zelda, your words are kind and your heart is true," I told her. "If all in Hyrule are like you...then maybe you'll do alright."

_Maybe._

It was the only compliment I'd ever paid her. I couldn't allow myself to get too emotional. I barely know these people. Maybe I'd been acquainted with Link long enough to pay him respect without having to tone down the sentiment. But Zelda...we were one, for a time, but we were never really friends.

Maybe we are now.

I wouldn't know.

Eager to return to my own dimension and not wanting to infringe on her hospitality any longer, I made my way over to the stairs that appeared from nothingness before me. As I reached them, I turned back to face the two people who were possibly now my friends.

"Thank you," I said with actual, genuine emotion.

I mean that. I may not have meant many things over the course of my life, but that - _that_ was real.

I paused for a moment, considering everything. Considering the world, both worlds, and what they mean to each other. What they've done to each other purely by being connected by the Mirror.

"Well, the princess spoke truly; as long as that mirror is around, we could meet again."

And I took a brief moment to take in the two people, the two light-dwellers standing before me.

There was Zelda, a compassionate, dignified and beloved ruler of her people. The kind of ruler I had resolved to be like, not that I would ever confide her in that. She stood tall and poised, kept her expression impassive as she watched me a little warily. She knows what I believe. She knows what I plan to do. I can see it in her face, she understands the situation from my perspective. That our worlds should never have come into contact – after all, the World of Light had wrecked misery and havoc upon the Twili. I would not see that suffering brought down on my people again. She understood. She may not _agree,_ but she won't argue with me.

There will be no tears, no anxieties. We would all follow our own prospective paths, away from this place, away from each other.

And then, there was Link.

Link, the hero. The boy who had been pushed and shoved and forced to go in a direction I highly doubted he ever thought he would go down – partly by circumstance, partly by the Light Spirits, partly by Zelda, but almost entirely by me. I had been right to use him. He had served both me and my goal well. He had never complained in all that time; he did what he was told, never arguing, never being bitter about the hardships he faced along the way. In the end, he even impaled Ganondorf, the sole cause of everything horrific that had happened, in the chest with the Master Sword, killing him.

I watched him carefully, trying to see his reaction to the situation, but he made none. I don't know why I care about his opinion of my actions. This isn't something that concerns him. We will all return to where we belong and balance will finally be restored after this whole ordeal. I knew I was right. I was resolved in my decision, but looking at him made me hesitate, just for a small moment.

No. I will not be selfish. Not this time. He had fulfilled his destiny. It was time for me to fulfil my own as the ruler of the Twilight. I will protect my own. I trust both Link and Zelda will do the same for the Light World.

"Link, I…" I paused, not wanting to display any outpouring of my newfound affection for him.

Not because I don't care. Because the situation simply doesn't call for it.

He looked up at the sound of his name and I saw him now as he truly was – a powerful warrior in his own right; confident and determined. He had shed all traces of the confused farm-boy-turned-wolf he had been when we first made acquaintance; though whether that new impression came from our shared experiences, the green Hero's garb he wore or the fact that he wielded the Master Sword was unknown.

He had changed.

Maybe we both had.

Maybe…maybe I loved him, and that was causing me to hesitate.

I smiled just a little. It never would have worked between us.

We were too different. We had led two different lives, different experiences, and different outlooks. We belong to two different worlds that need to be separate and remain so. As long as light and shadow are connected, they will inevitably corrupt each other.

I know that.

I understand that.

Zelda understands that.

Whether he does or not is none of my concern.

No time for sentiment.

Somehow, I expected him to smile, to keep that cheerful demeanour even as he realised what I was doing. It wouldn't take him long. He's far more intelligent than I ever gave him credit for. I still expected him to smile faintly as he always did, and go on with his life just as I would with mine.

The mirror cracked. I remained motionless, watching for that smile before I left this world of light behind me and returned to my home, my own world, my own dimension. Where I belonged. Where I was supposed to be.

And then, finally, a small sad smile played on his lips and he nodded ever so slightly in my direction.

I will never see him again.

And I'm okay with that.

No tears.

No sentiment.

No anxieties.

"...see you later."


	5. Link: Still Standing

Link

He died standing up.

When I ran him through, he was on the ground. On his back, screaming from the pain of it. I thought he'd stay there, but he got up. A sword through his chest and he just _had_ to get up, right in front of me, and die on his feet. Whether it was an attempt to recreate what had happened when he was executed by the sages before the Triforce of Power left him or simply one last attempt to inspire fear in the hearts of his enemies, I didn't know. I didn't want to know.

One last act of defiance against the goddesses, one lasting image of him to haunt me for the rest of my life.

I thought what Lanayru showed me when talking about the Interloper's War would be the hardest thing to deal with. Given everything I'd been through up until that point, those visions stayed with me. They wouldn't leave me alone. When I finally managed to go a night without reliving that experience in my sleep, I was glad. I thought nothing was ever going to get to me that as much as that did. The worst of it was over, as far as my sanity could be concerned.

Then I fought Ganondorf. Four times, in the course of one day. I was exhausted, I was wounded, I was battered, bruised and bleeding and I couldn't even summon the energy to stand at the end of it. He'd been run through the chest with the Master Sword. Out of the two of us, _he_ had been the first to stand.

_Do not think this ends here. The history of light and shadow will be written in blood. _

I moaned a little and clutched my side, trying not to focus too much on just how much it still hurt when I breathed. I'd been told, reminded by several people, including the soon-to-be-queen of Hyrule herself that I shouldn't go gallivanting off so soon after being through a fight as long and arduous as the one I'd just been through. That I needed to stop. To rest. I needed to take time to recuperate before deciding to travel anywhere. I'd been reminded more times than I could count that any hard riding could worsen my injuries.

That being said, I needed to get home. I needed my life back, my _real _life back, the one I had before Zant, Ganondorf and the Twilight happened. I'd insisted, forcing myself to believe that it was still possible for me to go back to that, to be a nondescript ranch-hand again. I wanted to bury myself in mediocrity again and maybe, one day, I can bring myself to accept everything that's happened these past few months.

_…see you later._

I closed my eyes and exhaled loudly before returning my attention to directing Epona. I understand why Midna chose to shatter the Mirror of Twilight. That was her choice to make, and she was obviously confident that cutting off our respective worlds was the right thing to do. I understand the reasoning behind her decision and why she didn't make a big, emotional deal out of it. I just…

I don't know. For someone who repeatedly called me her slave, manipulated both me and other people around her and elected to ride around on my back when she could easily fly when we first met, we became bizarrely good friends. I guess I'm lucky Zelda's sacrifice changed Midna's outlook on things.

Now, however, she's gone and she's not coming back. She has her own kingdom to govern and her own people to keep safe. Zelda has her coronation, and so I've been left to my own devices. Maybe I'll be called upon later. For now, I'm headed home. Hopefully permanently this time.

Why do I feel so melancholy? I've done it. I saved the world. Two worlds, even. Everything is the way it should be. I can go home and everything will be okay, so why am I so intensely depressed by that idea?

Because I know it won't last long.

I know I won't be staying.

I can't stay.

I can't go back to that, not permanently. No matter how much I want to.

It was only now, as Epona picked her way through the long grass on the road from Faron Woods to Ordon Village, that I realised just how long it's been since I was back here. I haven't spoken to anyone in the village since Mayor Bo taught me how to sumo wrestle a Goron. I smiled a little at the memory. That particular skill had come in handier than I realised. But that was months ago. Who knows how much I've changed in that time. I don't even know who or what I am anymore. I'm as much the wolf as the wolf is me.

Part of me just wants to turn back into a wolf and vanish into the wild, never to be seen again.

I sighed at the thought. No. No more turning into a wolf. I'm done with that chapter of my life. Yes, Midna left the crystal with me, but that doesn't mean I should use it. Ever.

"Link?"

My head whipped around to find who had called my name, just in time to see Ilia rush out of the spring.

She grinned when she came close enough to confirm that was indeed me. _"Link!_ You're back!"

She seemed so excited, only to stop dead once she saw the state of me and, more importantly, Epona. Her face almost immediately fell.

"What on earth did you _do_ to that poor horse?" she demanded.

I looked down. She was ragged, dirty, not brushed and generally uncared for, but considering that what I'd done to her was make her chase after a demon horse ridden by Ganondorf while carrying two people _and_ dodging the phantoms that Ganondorf threw at us, I'd say she's come off pretty easy. I slipped out of the saddle, misjudging the force with which I'd land, staggered, and would've hit the ground if Ilia hadn't noticed and grabbed me.

"Are you alright?"

I smiled wryly and shrugged innocently, saying nothing.

I can't talk to her like I used to.

I can barely even look at her.

I've changed.

Maybe we all have.

Whether it's for the better or not remains to be seen.

"Maybe I should sit you down in the healing spring too," she told me, nodding at the dried blood that stained my tunic.

Because no problem in the world can't be solved by a good long sit in a healing spring, according to Ilia. She had already made the joke that her memories might've come back a whole lot faster if she'd stood in the Eldin spring for a few straight days. I don't know if that's true. I don't really know what to believe anymore.

At least she still has the capacity _to_ joke.

I stood obstinately still, my expression unchanging. Her smile slowly faded into a look of what one could argue was absolute despair, and took my hand gingerly, leading forwards as gently as she would've done for Epona. I watched her, desperate to say something that would get that look off her face, but no words came out. I may as well have been completely mute.

This being Ilia though, she cheered up on her own. Or maybe she was forcing it for my sake.

I don't know.

I'm not sure if I care.

I _want_ to care.

It kills me how little I care about these things anymore.

Everything used to be so perfect. My life used to make sense. Even when I was running across the entirely of Hyrule, sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, sometimes as a wolf being ridden by a snarky imp, I knew where I was going and what I had to do. Now I'm lost. I don't have a direction. I'm furious because I've been left completely stranded by anyone and everyone, and I don't know who I'm so angry at.

Zelda.

The Light Spirits.

Zant.

Ganondorf.

Midna.

Myself.

I don't know.

"Come on, it can only be good for you," Ilia insisted, pulling me into the spring while also urging Epona to follow us. "All these fairies started appearing lately too, you'll be feeling better in no time."

Her assurances didn't make me feel any better about the fact that she was making me sit down in a spring fully clothed before turning away from me and attending to Epona. She wasn't even that badly hurt. I did smile a little when a couple of fairies made their way over to me. It made me feel slightly better about my grand idea to put myself through the Cave of Ordeals. And I did start to feel better, after a while.

Finally, Ilia turned to me, and looked me up and down. "What happened to you, Link?"

I looked away and said nothing. That image of his corpse just standing in front of me is going to haunt me for the rest of my days, I _know_ it.

He died standing up.


	6. Link: Run

Link

It's dark.

I collapsed on the ground, barely able to summon the strength to move. I was exhausted. Every single muscle in my body ached terribly. My head pounded with a thudding pain that wouldn't leave me alone or let me think about anything else. Rain poured down from the sky, seeping into my fur and completely drenching me in what seemed like no time at all.

_Fur._

Oh…no.

Not this. Not again.

I thought I was done with this.

Am I back in the Twilight? No, I can't be. That's not possible. I thought I drove it out of Hyrule completely. When did it come back? _How_ did it come back? Did Zant somehow restore it while I was out? This isn't the spirit spring either – I'm just outside Hyrule Castle Town. How did I get here? When did I get here? I don't understand. Something isn't right here.

Because this _isn't _the Twilight, I realised as I managed to lift my head enough to look around and properly survey my surroundings. It's not dark in the way the Twilight shroud was dark. It's dark because it's night.

It's night.

I'm still in the Light World.

And I'm a wolf.

This can't be happening.

This _cannot_ be happening to me. Not now.

How? How is this even possible? I thought…Midna _said-_

_Midna._

I panicked briefly, completely at a loss of where she could be and terrified by the prospect of being trapped as wolf in a world where everyone can see me. I got shakily to my feet and was about to take off in search of my begrudging companion when I finally took notice of the familiar weight on my back and quiet, rasping and desperate gasps for air.

I twisted around, revealing the imp sprawled across my back, clinging at my fur for dear life and clearly not in a good way. My eyes widened. I didn't know how to react. She looks like she's dying. I think she might be dying. What if she's dying? What am I going to do if she dies?

She can't die.

She _can't._

She's the only reason I've gotten as far as I have.

Midna?

I ran, not caring about the mud that splashed up my legs, scrambling desperately along the cobblestone path, digging my claws into the ground to avoid slipping every time I turned a corner. I bolted towards Castle Town, ignoring everything else in my path. I didn't know what else to do. I didn't know where else to go. I just needed help. She needed help.

Who's going to help me? Here? Now? As I am?

This would be so much easier if I could change back somehow.

Why am I not changing back?

Am I ever going to change back?

What if I'm stuck like this? Forever?

Does that really _matter_ right now? Who even cares if I'm stuck as a wolf forever? Midna's _dying,_ for crying out loud! She is _dying!_

She broke me out of the dungeon of Hyrule Castle. She helped me find and save the kids, find Ilia and get her to Kakariko with the others. Yeah, she might have been snarky and manipulative about it and might've only done it for her own personal gain, but she still _helped_ me when I needed help. I owe her for that. Now she's dying, and there is very little I can do about it.

Don't die, Midna.

Please don't die.

Don't do this to me. Not now.

Thunder cracked overhead as I ran over the bridge and into the city, straight past guards who immediately cowered and pointed their spears as if they were about to attack me. They wouldn't. I knew that now. Zelda really needs to get Hyrule a better military when this is all over. But for now, I'm grateful for their cowardice.

Civilians screamed and ran for the safety of indoors the second I came into sight, even though I never moved to attack anyone. Maybe they were screaming because of the dying imp on my back. I don't know. I don't care.

I can hear her, still struggling to breathe, to remain conscious. I want to help her. I have to help her.

I can't help her.

I can't do _anything._

Not like this.

I need help.

Just hang on a little longer, Midna.

Please, _please_ hang on.


	7. Ilia: Horses

Ilia

He forgot to wash Epona again.

She's dirty, her fur has burs all through it, and she's nuzzling me like she hasn't been fed at all today. She probably hasn't. Maybe he forgot to do that too. Maybe he's simply too busy. Maybe he's forgotten that he even has a horse to begin with. It wouldn't be the first time, which is the worst part.

This is so typical.

I rubbed her neck reassuringly, slowly reaching for the reins so I could lead her to the healing spring and get her in a reasonably nice, presentable condition. She seemed more than happy to go with me, further cementing the idea that he's neglecting her in my head. Maybe she just likes me. Not nearly as much as she seems to like him, though. Then again, she's been with him her entire life. She's his horse, and is eternally loyal to him because of that. That's a powerful bond I can never get in the way of. I don't really want to, because sometimes, I'm worried that Epona is all he really has.

He could still find it in himself to wash her, though.

Slowly, carefully, I led her away from her usual post near his house on the outskirts of the village and away into the surrounding forest, towards the spring.

I smiled a little as I led Epona along the main path through the trees, and started chatting away to her. Not for any real reason, just because she listens and she doesn't argue or answer back like people do.

Neither does he, now that I think about it. Not even when I'm mad at him.

Perhaps that's why we're such good friends.

"You're coming up on three now, aren't you? I hope he remembers your birthday. Look at you, you're so filthy. Didn't anyone tell him how to look after a horse? He's so lazy sometimes, what do you think?"

She plodded along patiently behind me, swishing her tail a little to fend off some insects that flew too close to her. I steered her into the spring before we hit the bridge into Faron Woods, since we didn't need to go that far. There was a spring in the woods, and I had been there before – several times in fact – but I usually avoided going there alone. Something about those trees unnerve me when I go in there alone.

Together we walked into the shallow pool, and like usual, the moment I did so I let go of Epona's reins and closed my eyes, feeling the cool breeze and the faint tingling sensation that ran through me from the magical healing properties of the water.

It's so beautiful here.

No time for dawdling, though. Epona needs a wash and he'll probably need her later in the evening because Fado is apparently incompetent.

Somehow, that isn't a surprise. The ranch has been running far more smoothly and we've lost fewer goats that ever before since Link started working there. At least he works hard, I suppose. I still don't think he's ready to handle the responsibility of owning a horse, even though he has had Epona for nearly three years now. He keeps forgetting about her. He forgets to wash her, he forgets to brush her, to feed her and change her water…he rides around so much and gets her to jump fences all the time without any consideration of how tired she is; I'm actually surprised Epona hasn't kicked him off out of pure frustration.

I guess she likes him.

_Everybody_ likes him.

He's just one of those annoyingly likable people. So much so that the more I think about him the guiltier I feel about being irritated at his behaviour.

Rather than continuing to think about Link and how mad-but-not-actually-mad I am at him, I bent down, dipping the rag in my hand below the surface of the crystal clear water before bringing it up, wringing it out and setting to work on getting all the mud caked onto Epona's fur off somehow, as quickly but as gently as possible. Odds are he'll appear at the entrance of the spring any moment now, wanting her back.

Maybe I should've started earlier. I wouldn't be inconveniencing him that way.

I exhaled loudly. _Maybe_ he should've washed his horse himself rather than leaving her to me. I'd stop doing it for him and try not to encourage his behaviour but…well, then Epona would never get properly cared for and I can't stand that idea.

And yet, by repeatedly looking after his horse for him, nothing is going to change.

I'm going about this the wrong way. I can't help it. I don't know what else to do.

But I don't suppose standing here wishing that one of these days he'll actually think to take some initiative is going to help the situation much.

"One day Epona," I muttered under my breath, _"one day,_ he'll understand that actions have consequences."

She nickered softly at me and shook her head, droplets of muddy water flying off her mane. I pulled back, raising my arms to protect my face from the assault, laughing.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I'll not speak out against him again."

She settled back down, and I resumed my task, biting my tongue a little as I worked to get the mud out and have her looking at least reasonably clean.

"A clean horse is a happy horse," I chanted to myself over and over again as I struggled with some of the more difficult parts of her mud caked coat. "A clean horse is a happy horse."

And a happy horse is a happy Link.

I paused at that thought.

Link is very rarely unhappy. One only has to spend a few fleeting moments in the same room as him to work that much out. Why am I so dedicated to improving his usually sunny mood all the time, to the point I'm willing to basically steal his horse from him and give her a good clean on the off chance it'll make him feel better?

Because we've been friends since we were kids. In fact, Link happens to be the closest friend I have. And because sometimes, when I look at him, he seems lost, alone, like he's yet to find his place in the world.

And sometimes, I'm worried that Epona is all he really has.


End file.
